AmerenCares Donates Additional $500,000 for COVID-19 Assistance
Following $1 million in support for Ameren Missouri customers through its Coronavirus Income Relief Fund in partnership with United Way and through Heat Up St. Louis/Heat Up Missouri, the Ameren Corporate Charitable Trust has donated an additional $500,000 through AmerenCares to help individuals, families, and communities impacted by the pandemic in Missouri and Illinois.
On March 30, the Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust announced the additional funding, which will support relief efforts in Illinois and Missouri, with half of the donation money going to assist organizations in each state.
Specifically, for Missouri, the AmerenCares donation will provide $250,000 to the United Way of Greater St. Louis COVID-19 Response Fund, with a focus on helping United Way scale up the operations of its 2-1-1 program. 2-1-1 serves as an emergency relief line, guiding calls related to crisis and hardship to United Way’s nonprofit member agencies and its expansive network of nonprofits. United Way of Greater St. Louis supports more than 160 nonprofit agencies in a 16-county region in both Missouri and Illinois.
“We are grateful to Ameren and its leadership team for their generosity through this incredible gift to the community,” said Michelle Tucker, CEO and president of United Way of Greater St. Louis. “With their support, we will provide critical funds throughout Missouri and Illinois that will help our neighbors facing hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. A longtime partner of United Way, Ameren continues to step up to help stabilize families throughout the St. Louis region with this gift and the $1 million they’ve already infused into our community for help during this crisis.”
The original $1 million donation was divided between the United Way for a Coronavirus Income Relief Fund and Heat Up St. Louis/Heat Up Missouri for energy assistance. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus Income Relief Fund has been suspended due to overwhelming demand. Thousands of applications were received in a matter of days and those funds have already been allocated.
Ameren Missouri also has suspended all disconnections for non-payment and is forgiving any late payment fees until further notice for both residential and business customers who are struggling to make payments on time due to the pandemic. Normal billing for customers' usage will continue as usual and the company encourages customers to pay what they can so they don't fall too far behind and have even greater difficulty when the crisis is over.
Customers having difficulty paying their bill should contact Ameren Missouri's Customer Care team, log into their online account at Ameren Missouri.com for payment plans available or go to the Missouri payment Assistance page on AmerenMissouri.com, or investigate the various programs available.
Additional energy assistance programs for customers:
Heat Up Missouri – HeatUpMissouri.org focuses on helping area elderly and physically disabled people, and low-to-moderate income families with their delinquent Ameren bills in Missouri, who must complete a questionnaire and have a household income of $0 to $29,000. Visit their website at Heatupmissouri.org or Heatupstlouis.org. Customers can also call during regular business hours, the Heat-Up Crisis Hotline at 314.241.0001 or 314.657.1599.
LIHEAP – The State of Missouri offers assistance for income-eligible customers through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Contact your local Community Action Agency or call 855-FSD-INFO (855.373.4636) to request an application.
Cold Weather Rule Payment Agreement – This option allows customers to make a down payment and then spread their remaining balance over 12 months. The deadline to receive this payment agreement option normally ends on March 31, but in response to the hardships customers may be experiencing, Ameren Missouri is extending the deadline until further notice.
For a complete list of programs and resources available to customers, please visit Ameren.com/COVID19.